Assuming he's no longer a friend? Lol.
I'm sorry man, that really sucks. You're not stupid either, a lot of folks got taken in with the scam (like your buddy) and they have a pretty good pitch. It's a full on industry with courses on how to mislead folks and the whole 9 yards. I don't mean to make you feel bad about it, I'm being harsh just to emphasize my opinion. I know it sucks, but you gotta let them go.